Crowdfunding through community-building

By Rachel P. Farrell | Published December 2025

While philosophy majors are in the minority at BU, the Undergraduate Philosophy Association (UPA) is one of the most active student clubs on campus. It’s also BU’s largest academic club, with membership open to all undergraduate students, regardless of school, college, or major.

“Most of our members aren’t even philosophy majors,” adds UPA President Josephine Perl (CAS’26). “They’re just people who like to talk about ideas. Personally, I like to compare us to an old-time salon.”

In keeping with that model, UPA holds weekly symposiums—drawing anywhere from 30 to 80 undergraduates—to discuss a philosophy-related topic, which can be “just about anything,” Perl says. It also provides tutoring services, publishes a newsletter, and maintains an active presence on social media.

But one of the club’s most important events of the year is the UPA Annual Undergraduate Lecture, which brings a philosophy scholar to BU to present on a topic of the UPA members’ choosing. The event is entirely led and funded by undergraduate students—the latter made possible by the BU Crowdfunding platform.

“BU Crowdfunding has been really invaluable, because there’s so much we need to pay for,” explains Perl. “I’m very proud that we pay an honorarium to the speaker—and it’s thanks to crowdfunding that we can.”

Standout support

One of the UPA’s most generous donors is Glenn Street (CAS’82, MET’94), who majored in philosophy and belonged to the club as a BU student. While Street has always been a loyal donor to the philosophy department, he has recently taken a particular interest in supporting crowdfunding projects led by philosophy students. For example, he donated to several crowdfunding projects for the student-run philosophy journal, Arché, and has supported crowdfunding for the UPA Annual Undergraduate Lecture multiple years in a row.

“I think crowdfunding is a fantastic innovation,” says Street. “What I find really interesting about it is it makes clear what students’ greatest needs are.”

Street’s devotion to philosophy-related crowdfunding is so strong that, in 2025, he reached out to the UPA when it looked like the club wasn’t going to meet its fundraising goal. “I said, ‘If you don’t make the goal, I’ll make up the difference,’ he says. “And I was happy to do that.”

With that support, the UPA brought John Abughattas, a PhD candidate at Harvard, to campus for a lecture on the ethics of forced displacement. After giving “an incredible lecture,” Perl says, Abughattas sat down with a small group of BU students for a candid conversation about his experiences studying philosophy beyond the undergraduate level. “He was able to give advice about graduate school and also just connect with us as a person.”

More than just a club

As a show of gratitude, UPA members make a concerted effort to build meaningful, long-term relationships with their donors. For example, Perl mailed a UPA t-shirt to Street and personally invited him to several lectures.

Recently, the UPA also created a plaque listing the name of every donor who gave to the 2025 lecture. That plaque now hangs on a wall in the UPA lounge. “So, whenever people go into the lounge, they’ll see that plaque and know people really cared about the functioning of our club and hosting a yearly lecture, which is such a privilege,” Perl says.

Through these efforts, UPA has become more than just a club for undergraduates. It’s a welcoming community for students, alumni, and friends who share a love for philosophy and genuinely value one another.

“To crowdfund effectively, you have to have a passionate base of members,” Perl says. “I think the reason why the UPA is successful at it is because our members can really tell that we care about them as people. And, in turn, they care about us.”